


Who Will Watch the Watchmen?

by LucreziaDormentaire



Category: Haikyuu!!, Watch Dogs (Video Game)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Hackers, Implied Relationships, M/M, Mentions of Murder, Mild Blood, Multi, Non-Graphic Violence, POV Multiple, Technology, Watch Dogs AU, this fic is on hiatus but not dropped!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-04-26 19:06:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5016676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LucreziaDormentaire/pseuds/LucreziaDormentaire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a foreign city controlled by computer, two strangers—both driven by different purposes—find themselves in a midst of a digital war, and they have no choice but to depend on each other.</p><p>Or</p><p>Tsukishima Kei is a brilliant hacker in an alien city, and Yamaguchi only wants to protect his home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! so, uh, i wanted to try writing Tsukiyama, but ended up with _this._ I'm sorry.  
>  Yes this is a watch dogs (in case you didnt know its a game) AU and it doesn't have anything to do with the main storyline from WD! you don't need to play/read anything about WD 'coz i'll explain it to you.
> 
> hopefully you'll enjoy it!

_Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?_

* * *

 

 

On the day Tsukisima Kei’s life took a major turn, it was cold and windy. Winter in Chicago has always been unkind, on the other hand. The blond shuffled on his feet while waiting for the traffic light, nodding his head slightly to the beat of the music from his phone. He fumbled with the cable of his headphone and ducked his head as he crossed the road with other pedestrians, as if trying to hide himself. At one point the music completely stop, followed by loud static noises. With a click of his tongue he slipped out of his headphone and fixed his eyes on the large screen attached into a skyscraper. The screen was dark, and the same static noises echoed through the street, grabbing the citizens’ attention. He looked up with mild interest as a word—written in Japanese—flashed on the screen.

_Succumb._

A high pitched voice followed after.

” _You think you’re safe? No one is safe, not you, not the Vigilante, not DedSec. You are our preys.”_

The voice rang throughout the city, from electronic bulletin boards, radios, even smartphones. It gave off an unpleasant sensation on Tsukishima’s ears.

“ _The city belongs to The Owls.”_

The screen flashed once more, showing some kind of a black and white symbol of an Owl, before returning back almost immediately to WKZ news. The music from Tsukishima’s phone escaped from his headphones once again and he narrowed his eyes as he stared down at the screen.

“And I thought this thing is supposed to be impenetrable.” He mumbled to no one in particular.

The sudden interference caused a huge commotion around him, and people were starting to get worried. Tsukishima though, couldn’t care less. He put his headphones back on, pulled his hoodie up, and stuffed his hands inside the pockets as he pace faster to the Elevated Train station. He pushed through the crowds who were still mesmerized over the announcement.

It was common occurrence here in Chicago city, where a group of hackers took control of ctOS and hacked into public advertisements media and signposts. At first, the citizens of Chicago grew tired of it eventually and decided to just leave them be.

Until a new group showed up.

They were fiercer and more violent, with intentions opposite of DedSec’s.

Tsukishima had no time to deal with impractical war that doesn’t concern him, since he had other things that he needed to do. Like finding his brother, for instance.

 

***

 

The sky was beginning to color and Yamaguchi was worried it’d rain. He was only wearing a worn out sweatshirt and left his coat back at home, which is stupid, he told himself countless of times. He checked his phone repeatedly, wishing the L-train would go faster. Technically speaking, he _could_ make the L-train go faster, but it was packed that time and he couldn’t risk those innocent civilians. So he let his thumb hover above the screen of his phone and leaned back into the seat with a distressed huff.

He stared out of the window the entire journey (if not checking the time on his phone) and was about to nod off to sleep when the train came into an abrupt halt with a loud, screeching noise. He bumped into the person on his right with a loud gasp. The light inside the train flickered and he could hear screams before finally the light shined dimly again.

_How? It’s not even the station yet…!_

The people around him were starting to panic and it made him uncomfortable. He looked around warily, one hand squeezing the edge of his seat tightly when a sound of a door sliding startled him. He whipped his head to the entrance where a tall, hooded figure calmly stood in front of the door. Yamaguchi looked outside and to his horror, the tall figure steadily jumped over the gap between the bridge and the train to the roof of a building. He rotated around and pressed his palms flat on the window, watching the tall figure slowly rose to their feet and turned around to face the train. It all happened so fast, Yamaguchi couldn’t even see the stranger’s face when the train suddenly move again, swaying him off his balance.

_Is that… the vigilante?_

Yamaguchi wondered.

_No… he wouldn’t be that reckless. Would he?_

 

Yamaguchi was thankful it didn’t rain once he arrived at his station. He descended the stairs hastily, making his way through the crowd until he reached a small pub at the end of the road. It was dimly lit, with blue neon light illuminating the small space and plastic cups scattered on the floor. The bar was kept neat and clean, and a huge, bearded man greeted Yamaguchi when he walked past it. Yamaguchi walked through the back door and down through a set of stairs. He walked on a long corridor with a huge steel door at the end of it. A black box was etched on the wall next to the door, and when Yamaguchi pressed his phone against it, the door unlocked on its own.

Inside was dark; the only source of light was the huge screen in the middle of the room, and a few computers here and there. Cables were strewn all over the floor, making it hard to walk. Yamaguchi strode to the center of the room, where a guy his age was seated in front of a computer, his legs crossed. His hair was dark and cut short, and posture was tall and lanky. He glanced sideway at Yamaguchi before turning back to the screen.

“I heard you got a job for me?” Yamaguchi said, slanting against the table.

The guy raised his eyebrows. “Have you seen what the Owls send us?”

Another guy—with curly brown hair and loose tank top yelled from across the room. “Those guys are starting a war, I tell ya.” He was lying down on a worn out couch, long feet dangling at the edge. “Those damn Japanese—no offense though Yamaguchi.”

“None taken.” Yamaguchi smiles half-heartedly at his companion. “I mean, I do admit that they’re not that bright for taking us lightly.”

“I wonder what the Daves gonna say about ‘em.” A slender, blonde girl added. She closed the door behind her and walked towards Yamaguchi. “I was just checking the data, and yeah, we lost some.” She continued.

“What data?” Yamaguchi asked, eyes darting from the girl to the dark-haired guy.

“That’s what we want you to retrieve. The signal bounced around May Stadium, can you trace it back?” the black haired dude rotated his chair to look at him.

“Well, sure.” He fished his phone out of his pocket, just as it suddenly buzzed. One message notification. When he saw the ID, he furrowed his brows. “The bank? Why would the bank—“ he gaped and almost lose his grip on the phone. “Oh my god.” He gasped.

The girl next to her tilted her head to the side and scooted closer. “What’s wrong ‘guchi?”

“Oh shit, oh shit.” Yamaguchi walked away from his friends and frantically pulled his hair. “Shit, this is not happening!” He yelled, desperately, making the other two guys curious as well.

“Yo, dude, chill, what happened?” the brunette sat up on the couch with a confused look in his eyes.

Yamaguchi groaned as he paced to the nearest computer and plugged his phone hurriedly. He typed on the keyboard with remarkable speed, his eyes wide open.

“Yo, bro?” called the black haired guy.

“I was _robbed_ ,” Yamaguchi said, biting his lower lips. “Someone _hacked_ into my bank account!”

There was silence until the brunette snorted, and the rest of his friends laughed.

“Are you fucking serious? _You?_ Got _hacked?”_ The dark haired teen said between laughter.

“It’s not funny, mafiosi29, that’s my college tuition!” Yamaguchi hissed.

“Wow, on the code name basis aren’t we now.”

“How could you let such thing happened to you? Was it the vigilante?” The girl asked worriedly, once her laughter subsided.

“…No it wasn’t.” Yamaguchi pressed enter on the keyboard. Something flashed in his eyes as he fixated his eyes on the screen. “The vigilante was never this reckless.” He said softly, eyeing the rapid beeping on the display, just right in the middle of the Chicago city map. He will have to take the job offer some other time, then.

The raven haired boy grinned. “Go get ‘em, rektdm8.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **important notes ******
> 
> _> WD is set in Chicago, Illinois. (nope never been there.)_  
> >ctOS is the city's central operating system, or a supercomputer who controls almost every piece of technology in the city; banks, security cameras, traffic lights, communication hubs, and even key data on the city's residents and activities have been complied into the system and can be used for various purposes.  
> >DedSec is a group of hacker who's against ctOS  
> >What about The Owls? well you'll just have to find out ;)  
> >The Vigilante is a neutral hacker who's really good at it and he kicks criminals' asses! and also, he steals money from ATM.  
> >the Daves are Dedsec's leaders, they are called the Daves since their codenames all have Dave in it.  
> >And lastly, Blume is the company who built ctOS before giving it to the government. __
> 
> that's all you need to know!  
> I don't know if I want to continue this or not..  
> and yes, Yamaguchi's code name is rektdm8. I'm sorry.


	2. Back Door

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tsukishima regretted a lot of things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man thank you for the nice feedbacks! It makes me want to write more of this thing.

“Not long after the L-Train accident, another traffic light shut down on itself at The Loop. The police are investigating the cause of the sudden power outage, and they are hundred percent sure that the ctOS network has nothing to do—“ Tsukishima switched off the television before throwing the remote away. He sat up from the couch and walked over to his work table, checking his laptop. His room is dark, with his bedside lamp as the only source of light. He looked over at the monitor; where there were multiple tabs opened each one showing different areas, with pedestrians walking back and forth.

_Traffic Cameras._

His system was trying to profile each passing pedestrians, giving him their names, ages, and even addresses, but his ultimate goal was to find one person. And that person is—

A loud knock on his door interfered with his thought, snapping him back to reality. He narrowed his eyes and walked quietly to the door, carefully grabbing the handgun he stashed inside his nightstand. Another knock, followed by a quiet murmur muffled by the door, “Is anybody home?”

Tsukishima stood by the door warily, gun in hand. He didn’t recognize the voice, and he was pretty sure none of his affiliates planned on visiting. Other than them, nobody knows where he lived.

There was silence, before the stranger from across the wall spoke; to whom, Tsukishima didn’t know.

“Hey, you sure the signal came from inside? It looks like its empty.”

Tsukishima stiffened. Who knows how many of them were outside?

“…Ah yeah, probably.” The stranger said, when there was no reply or what so ever, Tsukishima came into a conclusion that whoever outside of his door was talking on the telephone. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“Eh?! I can’t just barge in to some random people’s house!”

Tsukishima wished he’d installed another camera by his front door. He tightened his grip on the gun and sighed. He hoped the stranger would just give up and leave, because Tsukishima _hated_ cleaning up after a murder. Not like he’d kill the guy or anything.

“Okay—geez. I’m hanging up now, alright?” the voice spoke. “Here goes!”

Tsukishima knew he’s screwed. With swiftness he didn’t knew he had, he unlocked the door and grabbed the person in front of him by the collar, and shoved them down to the ground. He was glad the motel was empty—and almost deserted—because the stranger underneath him just _yelped._

He pinned the stranger down, one hand grabbing their shoulder tightly and pointed the gun on their head. “I’m going to give you exactly thirty seconds to tell me who you are and what you want,” Tsukishima growled.

“Jesus Christ—“ They shrieked. Tsukishima took his time to observe the intruder wriggling beneath him. He’s a teenager, roughly the same age as he is, with tan skin and freckles peppering his cheeks. His dark hair was a bit messy and unruly, and from the way he was dressed he looked like some kind of a hoodlum. Another thing Tsukishima noticed from the intruder was—“You’re… Japanese?”

“Oh my god,” The guy gasped. “Look okay, we can talk this out please don’t kill me!”

“ _How did you find me?_ ” Tsukishima asked in his mother language, pressing the gun into the guy’s forehead.

The guy gawked at him, and it took a while for Tsukishima to register that the guy was reaching for something with his free hand. Tsukishima whipped his head to the side to find a revolver, not far away from where he was. He narrowed his eyes dangerously before kicking the gun away.

_He brought a gun._

He turned back to the intruder, expression darkened.

“ _You’re one of the Owls, aren’t you?_ ”  
“You’re an Owl!”

The two of them said in union.

Silence hung in the air as they stare at each other intensely. The dark-haired guy was the first one to spoke.

”I… I can’t speak Japanese.”

 

***

 

“Don’t try anything funny or I’ll shoot.” Tsukishima gritted his teeth, gun still pointing at the guy who slowly rose on his feet, even though he was still staggering a bit. They’re outside of Tsukishima’s room now, face to face, with Tsukishima holding the upper hand. The guy nodded weakly, eyes wary.

“I—I understood what you just said but I can’t, um,” They guy stuttered.

“I don’t care, just tell me who you are.”

“I… I’m—“He opened his mouth but closed it again almost immediately, and Tsukishima was too distracted by the brunette’s amber eyes to notice the said guy snuck his hand inside his pocket. Then all of the sudden, Tsukishima heard something exploded behind him, before a total blackout swept the entire motel. The sudden darkness caused Tsukishima to wobble slightly.

“What the fuck—“Something—or someone, to be exact—tackled him to the ground, knocking air out of his lungs. His head pounded, and when he opened his eyes, his vision swum. In the midst of all that, the only thing that he could see clearly was the perfect tawny eyes looking back at him. It almost looked like it shined in the darkness, just like stars flickered over the night sky.

“I… I’m really sorry about this, Tsukishima Kei!” He heard a voice sputtering above him. A sudden realization came to his mind, but it was a little bit too late.

“How—”He was hit in the head pretty hard with god knows what, before he lost his vision completely.

 

***

 

Tsukishima jolted awake, as if he was running away from a _really_ bad dream. He was extremely glad when he saw the familiar poorly maintained ceiling of his hotel room.

_Maybe it was all just a really bad dream after all._

He huffed.

_You’re fine, Kei. Nobody knows where you are or who you are._

He assured himself while slowly closing his eyes.

“Um, is your head okay?” An unfamiliar voice asked.

His eyes snapped open and he sat up straight, whipping his head to the direction of the unknown voice. A lanky boy seated himself on a shabby chair at the edge of the room, his hands clamped nervously. An awkward grin adorned his face, and with the way he swung his legs fretfully, he kind of looked younger than he actually was. _But_ it’s not like Tsukishima cared about his appearance or whatsoever.

If anything, he was simply irritated.

“I kind of hit you a little too hard? I’m sorry…” The guy trailed off.

Tsukishima watched him incredulously. _It wasn’t a bad dream in the end._ “The hell you doing inviting yourself inside my place?” he started.

“Well, you were knocked out…”

“And whose fault was that?” Tsukishima snapped. He fumbled on his mattress for his phone, his gun, _anything._

“Uh I… I took your gun.” The dark-haired teen said. “Or else you’d shoot me.” He chuckled dryly.

“I don’t see the reason why I shouldn’t.” Tsukishima glared at the guy, causing him to flinch faintly.

“Look, I’m sorry, but you wouldn’t listen to me unless I do this!” The guy stood up, clenching his fist.

Tsukishima climbed out of the bed at the motion, silently watching the boy. He pondered about choking the guy in front of him until he passed out. He walked slowly to the other’s direction, trying to stay as calm as possible.

“U-uh, Tsukishima?” The guy backed away suspiciously.

The guy even knew his _name_. Tsukishima gritted his teeth.

_Seven hells, just how much does he knows?_

“What do you want?” he snarled.

“I—I just want my money back!” The boy whined, causing Tsukishima to stop in his track. The blond squinted quizzically.

“What,”

“You,” The outsider wheezed. “You, Tsukishima Kei.  Your age is unknown, your occupation is a car dealer.” He blabbered. “You have no criminal record, and you’ve been living here in the States illegally.”

“What in the world—“

A flare of confidence seemed to flicker back inside the boy’s eyes. “It’s all written here, in the profiler.” He lifted his phone.

Tsukishima stood still, mouth opening slightly, his breath caught in his throat.

“I believe those things belong to you?” The freckled boy gestured at the table next to him, where Tsukishima’s laptop and smartphone were located. Tsukishima’s eyes widened in shock, and he snapped his mouth shut into a thin line. He was doomed.

The boy coughed. “Look, I didn’t do anything to them. Yet.” He placed his phone back inside his sweatshirt pocket. “That’s why, please cooperate,”

It’s not like Tsukishima had any other choice. If this intruder does something to his phone, he’d lost _everything_ he worked for these past three months, so he stayed quiet.

“You, um, stole my money.” The shorter guy said, chewing the inside of his cheek. “From my bank account.”

Tsukishima tilted his head. “And you want it back,”

“Yes!”

Tsukishima scanned the man in front of him with mild irritation. “So you did all this, just to get your money back?” He snorted. “Is it really worth your _life_?” He jeered at the guy.

“I’ve been saving it my _whole_ life! I need to go back to college—“

“Cut your sappy story.” Tsukishima said sharply. The other indeed shut up almost instantly, hearing the venom on his voice. The two of them stood silently, and Tsukishima remembered taking some cash out of the ATM once he got out of the L-Train, but he didn’t count how much. He hacked a few accounts today. “How much did I take?”

“Eight… Eight thousand dollar,”

Tsukishima groaned. Well, undeniably, that’s a load of cash. “Look, okay, I’ll give it to you.”

The boy beamed happily like an excited puppy and honestly it was a kind of cute. Tsukishima had to drag his eyes elsewhere.

“Just, now right now.”

“You’re fucking with me right.” The guy deadpanned, expression soured straightaway.

The thought _maybe fucking him wouldn’t be such a bad idea_ crossed his mind, and he disposed it almost immediately. He shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Listen, I don’t have the money with me, but give me a day—maybe two—and I’ll return it back to you.” _And we’ll be able to continue our own life respectively._

The poor guy lost all the color on his face. “What did you do with eight thousand dollars?”

 

***

 

Tsukishima really _really_ regretted hacking into a DedSec member bank account. This guy—who goes by the name Yamaguchi—was super good at hiding his track. Not only that his profile shows nothing but his name, his phone signal bounces off _everywhere._

And now that he was forced into helping him breaks into some kind of office and retrieve some valuable data, he regretted ever coming to Chicago with very little preparation.

His phone buzzed when he was lying still in his bed, completely devastated. The screen showed a chat room from a private server.

 

 

\--rektdm8 logged in.--

>rektdm8: foo?

>rektdm8: srry bout ur head

>rektdm8: dont forget about 2morrow! CUL

>rektdm8: oh and bring that automated sniper rifle u bought using my cash

>fir3fly: shut up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the short chapter! oh and i don't know how much 8000 dollars worth in US but in my country currency thats a lottt of money. 
> 
> next, we'll be able to know the reason behind Tsukishima's arrival in Chicago!
> 
>  
> 
> **if any of you were confused about the blackout it happened simply because yamaguchi hacked into a transfomer vault using his phone and detonate it to temporarily disable the entire electrical grid in the city for a period of time.**


	3. Dumpster Diving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yamaguchi wasn't actually ready for this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for sticking with this story! also thank you for all your nice feedbacks!! thats what keeps me going ; u ; this chapter is longer than the two, and i haven't got the time to double check, so I'm sorry for the bad spelling/grammars.

By the time Tsukishima locked the door to his room, it was already evening. The sky was colored in beautiful red and orange, and it reminded him of the sunset paintings he used to draw with his brother. He swept away his wondering thought as he made his way to the driveway, carrying an unsuspiciously large suitcase. He wore a red beanie and a different hoodie from yesterday with a hip ripped jeans, and his favorite headphone dangling on his neck. He wasn’t sure either why he’d dressed up for the occasion. What happened yesterday kind of broke his head. A black rental car pulled over right in front of him, and a familiar freckled face greeted him. He carefully placed the suitcase at the backseat before seating himself at the passenger seat next to his new-found friend. Yamaguchi was wearing the same sweatshirt like the day before, only with different jeans, and his messy hair stayed the same, with the same cowlick sticking at the top of his head. Tsukishima felt a little guilty, robbing him.

Yamaguchi whistled. “So you can use it? Like, for real?”

Tsukishima took a while to realize Yamaguchi was referring to the rifle. “Oh. Yeah.”

“That’s so cool.” Yamaguchi grinned, eyes on the road as he stepped on the gas. “There’s nothing you can’t do, eh?”

 _That’s not true,_ Tsukishima wanted to say, but instead he kept his mouth shut.

“I’m really glad I brought you along. The security real tight ‘round there.” Yamaguchi mumbled. “I heard they even hired veterans.”

“What? Then what were you planning to do before you—“ Tsukishima blinked, lost on words. “Before you uh… forced me to come along?”

“Uhh, I thought I’d figure it out once I get there.” Yamaguchi replied, and somehow Tsukishima believed him. Now he felt even guiltier, robbing a dead man walking.

“But hey, I could use someone with a skill like yours.” Yamaguchi shrugged.

Tsukishima didn’t respond, if anything, Yamaguchi was the one with notable skills. Not only that he barely existed inside the profiler database, he also managed to track Tsukishima down to his motel room, and leave completely unscathed. Tsukishima exhaled and leaned against the car window, gazing outside at the blurry sight of the city. His eyes caught a billboard with The Owls graffiti on it, and something clicked inside his mind.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you,”

“Mhm?”

“Why can’t you speak Japanese?” The question had been on the tip of Tsukishima’s tongue for a while now, and by the look of it, it seemed to have caught the brunet off guard.

“Eh? Uh… you see,” He scratched his head. “My parents are Japanese, but I’ve been living here for as long as I can remember now.”

“Huh,”

“It’s not like I can’t understand Japanese, I actually do, but I’ve never use them for daily conversations.” Yamaguchi added. “And um, your English is also pretty good for someone who only been here for few months.”

“Not even with your parents?” Tsukishima inquired, trying to get the topic as far away from himself as possible.

“Oh, they were gone when I was very small. I had forgotten most of it by now.” Yamaguchi answered easily, but Tsukishima didn’t reply, so that was where their conversation ended.

 

***

 

Yamaguchi pulled over at a small and dark alleyway across the huge office building they were about to infiltrate. When he got out the car, he threw the key over to Tsukishima, who caught it steadily.

“What do you want me to do with this?”

“Just in case.” He smiled faintly.

Tsukishima stared at the car key in his hand with raised eyebrows. “You are too trusting. What makes you think I won’t bail on you and leave you behind?” He opened the back door to retrieve the large suitcase. Yamaguchi walked to the end of the alley, observing the tall building attentively.

“Somehow I know you won’t.” And then he smiled. It was the kind of heartwarming and cheery smile Tsukishima had long forgotten, a smile he didn’t knew he _missed_ so bad. Tsukishima swallowed the lump in his throat before answering.

“Weird.” Yamaguchi just laughed bubbly at that. He turned around facing Tsukishima with his phone in hand.

“So, I need you on the roof of the opposite building to keep a watch on me.” He pointed at the hotel next to him. “You can get in easily; I reserved a room with your name.”

“You what?” Tsukishima gawked.

“Your room is on the 8th floor, with the best view of the entire office building.” Yamaguchi explained. “The room or roof, that’s your choice,”

Tsukishima nodded.

“Keep your phone on.” Yamaguchi notified once more before turning around facing the street. Tsukishima spared him one last glance before going to the opposite direction. Once he got inside the hotel, sure enough Yamaguchi did book a room under his name. Tsukishima Hotaru.

Maybe the kid wasn’t so bad after all.

 

***

 

Yamaguchi didn’t remember the last time he was hacked. He was always the careful one amongst his small group of friends. So, the lost data and the sudden cut of his money came as a shock to him. In addition to that, a new-comer he had never heard of appeared out of nowhere and took half of his saving money, to add to his frustration. But being the pathetic anti-social guy that he is, Yamaguchi just couldn’t stay mad, especially when the said guy was far more intimidating than him. Whoever this Tsukishima Kei might be, he was really good. It’d be waste to just let him slip away.

Yamaguchi calmly entered the building and walked past the receptionist—who was too occupied with her eyebrows—and slipped inside the elevator just in time. It was crammed inside the elevator, but he was gratified, since he could easily hide himself from the security camera. He followed a large group of people out of the elevator, not wanting to be the only one left behind as he continued his way using the emergency stairs. Using the profiler on his phone, he rotated the camera away from his figure until he made it to the upper floor. He pushed open the heavy emergency door and sauntered inside a prestigious, sophisticated hallway. He scooted to a huge window facing the building where Tsukishima was located. His phone droned not long before he answered.

“ _That took a while._ ” Said a voice from the other side of the line.

“I took the stairs,” came Yamaguchi’s whispered reply.

“ _You know I spotted some gunmen straight from your direction_.” Tsukishima warned. “ _Exactly whose office are we breaking into now?”_

“A Blume’s executive.” Yamaguchi answered shortly, eyes searching for cameras. “He hired a fixer who was really good at decoding.”

“ _Was?_ ”

“Whoever that fixer was, they’re probably dead by now.”

“ _Probably_?”

“Hey, I don’t do the dirty work alright,” Yamaguchi stated simply as he strode to the nearest corner. He let out a smirk once he located a ctOS security camera.

“ _Right_.” Tsukishima said curtly. “ _Why would a Blume executive want to have DedSec’s data_?”

 _You ask too much_ , is what Yamaguchi planned on saying, but recalling the fact that Tsukishima was the one with the Sniper rifle, he deterred. Frankly, Yamaguchi was still searching for the exact answer to the previous question too. Even after months of being DedSec’s Intel, he didn’t precisely know what he was doing and _why_. Everything he’d done left big questions inside of his head, but he did settle on something; that the ctOS network is risky and vulnerable.  “Let’s just say Blume’s not the kind of corporation you think it is.”

Tsukishima only hummed in response, and Yamaguchi could faintly hear the sound of wind gusting from over his phone. Tsukishima must’ve been on the roof. “ _Ah. One man just entered a room. You’re clear to go._ ”

“Wait, I’m still trying to breach the security camera…” Yamaguchi murmured, glancing at the screen of his phone. When the system download reached eighty seven percent, Yamaguchi could hear the familiar ding of an elevator, just right across from where he was hiding. “Shit,” he hissed, and at the same time Tsukishima mumbled something in Japanese but it was too fast for Yamaguchi to interpret. He ran inside the hallway and reached for a door closest to him before the elevator door slide open. He stood with his back pressed against the door as he listened to the sound of footsteps just right outside of the room. Once the sound dissipated he let out a relief sigh.

“ _Where are you? I can’t see shit.”_ Tsukishima asked.

Yamaguchi inhaled deeply. He studied the room he was in carefully. It looked like an ordinary workplace, with papers scattered over the table and posh rug covered most of floor tiles. Books were organized neatly at the huge shelf just behind the workstation. “I’m inside some kind of uh, office room. It’s the first one on the right, keep an eye outside.”

“ _It’s dark as fuck out here,”_ Tsukishima protested, but Yamaguchi was too occupied rummaging through the shelves. There was a personal computer on the table, but it took a while to load, and Yamaguchi was getting impatient. He opened any drawers he could find, and search through every file he came across. He was in a middle of cracking when the sound of door closing startled him, followed by low murmurs. He sunk down on the chair, tapping on his phone screen anxiously, because whatever inside that computer took forever to download. The voices stopped right in front of his door, and he fretted.

“ _There are two people outside, but they seem unarmed. Should I shoot?”_

“It’s not here…” Yamaguchi mumbled, seemingly too distracted to answer Tsukishima. He slumped against the chair weakly and rubbed his face desperately. “Damn it.”

“ _Yamaguchi, they’re not moving.”_ That was actually the first time Tsukishima had ever called him by his name. “ _A wall is blocking my view, and if I shoot one, the other will run and sound the alarm.”_

“Then don’t,” Yamaguchi said quietly. “The data I’m looking for is at the main control room, I’m going to send you the building infrastructure, can you help me out?”

“ _That’s what I’m here for, isn’t it?”_ For some unknown reason, the statement made Yamaguchi smile a bit.

“I’ve finished breaking inside the CCTV systems, you should try it out.” He then stood up and tiptoed his way to the door, but he stopped dead on his track when he heard the sound of feet shuffling just outside of the door. He reached inside the pocket for his gun, his palms sweating. He really didn’t want to use any violence methods, it was Tsukishima’s job. He hated pulling the trigger, no matter how dire the situation was. He closed his eyes shut.

 _Please don’t get in please don’t get in_.

“There’s nothing worth fighting over inside it.” A voice outside the door spoke.

“Then what’s the chief gonna do about the data?” Another voice emerged.

“Well, he’ll have to pay that hacker one way or another…”  The first voice trailed off. Not long after that, Yamaguchi could hear their footsteps slowly drifting away, and he let out a loud sigh.

“ _They’re walking to the elevator… Oh they’re inside right now.”_ Tsukishima supplied. “ _You’re clear.”_

Yamaguchi pocketed his gun back. “Yeah, Thanks.”

“ _But hey, try to avoid the door to your left and the one at the end of the hallway. I spot some nasty gunmen inside, not to mention trained bodyguards.”_  

“Copy that.” Yamaguchi opened the door slowly, trying not to create any noise. He checked every empty room one by one, eluding the ones mentioned by Tsukishima. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary inside the computers, and as the night grew darker, Yamaguchi felt a little uneasy.

 

“ _Yamaguchi.”_ Tsukishima called over the phone.

Yamaguchi was in a middle of planting a bug inside a personal computer when he heard loud gunshot and glass shattering just outside his room. “H-huh?! What the hell?!” He stood up abruptly, knocking down the chair. “Tsukishima, was that you?!”

“ _Don’t panic. Listen to me.”_

“How can I not panic?!” Yamaguchi rummaged through his pocket and grabbed his gun. He pointed his gun at the door, his posture rigid.

“ _An armed bodyguard was about to enter the room you’re in!”_ Tsukishima hissed. Yamaguchi blinked, flustered for putting down guard.

“B-but now—“

“ _Listen. Remember the building infrastructure you sent me? Turns out the main control room is on the floor above you.”_ Tsukishima said calmly. “ _I’ve created a distraction, now you will have to go upstairs.  Avoid the elevators, I see more nasty suited men entering them just now.”_

Yamaguchi could hear people running by the hallway, followed by more firings. “ _Hurry up, more of them are coming.”_ Tsukishima grumbled. Yamaguchi flinched, slowly creeping to the entrance. He opened the door cautiously and peeked outside. He let out a terrified shriek when he spotted the bodies lying lifeless just outside of the room.

“ _The emergency stair is at the corner by your left.”_ Tsukishima supplied hastily. “ _I’ve short-circuited the surveillance camera around there so you should be okay. From what I heard over the com the guards think you’re still in the lower floor, so it’ll be wiser if you hurry.”_

“O-Okay.” Yamaguchi looked away from the corpses and power walked to the stairs. His gripped on his gun tightened as he ascended the stairs frantically, and he wondered _how on earth could Tsukishima stayed calm despite all this?_   He hadn’t that much time to think though, when he heard steps just above his head.

“Huh? Hey!” The guard seemed to have notice him, as they ran down the stairs with amazing speed. Yamaguchi stopped, his anxiety kicking in. He lifted his gun and pulled the trigger on the suited man coming at his direction. A loud bang echoed through the stairs, and the guard fell down to his knees. He groaned, hands cupping his left ear.

Yamaguchi had missed, shooting the ear instead, but somehow he was relieved he didn’t have to kill the poor guy. He approached the guard and kicked him hard on the stomach, sending him unconscious. He wiped the sweat off his forehead as he continued climbing upstairs. When he pushed open the huge steel door, he heard another gunshot from below, followed by loud shouts and footsteps.

“Tsukishima, I’m upstairs.” He warily observed the area. Unlike the floor below, it was dark and cold, and eerily _quiet_. He could hear the faint humming of engine just beyond the wall, and the ruckus downstairs.

“ _H-huh?”_ Another ammo fired. The windows surrounding Yamaguchi quaked. “ _Oh, yeah. The control room is on the end, the one with the huge glass door.”_

_“Oh and you better hurry. My com is picking up emergency calls. I can jam the signal, but not for long.”_

“U-uh, yeah!” Great, the police. Just what Yamaguchi needed. He sprinted through the hallway, not caring about the noises he made until he was face to face with a large sliding door made of glass—like what Tsukishima had said.

“ _Ah, I see you. Now, the door is locked shut with security clearance, but I could override the protocol. Just give me… five seconds.”_

“Okay.” Yamaguchi stood in awe when the door unlocked and slid open on its own. Just who is this Tsukishima guy?

He entered the dark room. Inside were a set of computers, a big screen showing all the surveillance cameras inside the building, and what it seemed to be a power area, including the whole building’s server and the electrical switch. There were two chairs, but they were empty, and it bugged Yamaguchi a little. Still, he approached one of the computers and searched his pocket for his other phone. He plugged it in and seated himself in one of the chair. He installed a back door easily, and in no time he found the data he was searching for. While waiting the data to fully downloaded, he tried to access Blume’s system files, but even after a few tries, he kept on failing. 

“ _Yamaguchi. What are you doing,”_ Tsukishima said on his phone after a while, and he sounded tense.

“Eh? I’ll be finish in few seconds…”

“ _You idiot, you triggered the IDS. Get out of there. Now.”_ Tsukishima ordered. “ _I’ll go get the car ready.”_

Just when Yamaguchi was about to unplug the phone, a red warning letter appeared on the screen.

>Intrusion detected.  
>00:10

“Great,” Yamaguchi grumbled. He quickly pulled the phone and stuffed the device inside his pocket and scrambled outside the room. Hearing no respond whatsoever from Tsukishima, he used his phone to shut the elevator off and overload the electrical grid, causing a blackout through the building. With his phone as guide, he slowly went down the stairs, ignoring the chaos inside the office.

 

***

 

Tsukishima was waiting inside the car right outside the back door. Yamaguchi ran to the car, hopped inside, and Tsukishima started the car almost immediately. The light inside the building went back on just as their car disappeared at a corner. “The police are scanning the area.” Tsukishima said as he slowed the car down.

“I-I’ll jam the coms.” Yamaguchi stammered, nervously reaching for his phone. “The… the batteries are almost out though. You better exit the area quickly.”

Tsukishima glanced at him briefly before turning back to the road. “Your hands are shaking.”

“I’m aware,” Yamaguchi answered.

“Hm,” Tsukishima hummed shortly. “Where should I drop you, princess?”

Yamaguchi twiddled with his phone and the radio suddenly died. “southern part of Parker Square, just right under Paulson station…”

Tsukishima didn’t respond after that, and Yamaguchi was glad he didn’t shower him with questions.

“Uh, you were the one who stopped the L-train, yesterday at the loop, weren’t you?” Yamaguchi asked in return, trying to start a conversation.

“I did that a lot, I wouldn’t remember exactly when and where.” Tsukishima replied curtly.

“Are you some kind of a vigilante wanna-be?” Yamaguchi hurriedly looked back at his phone when the radio switched back on.

“Are you kidding? What kind of vigilante steals money from innocent citizen?” Tsukishima mocked, his mouth pulled into a grin.

Yamaguchi chuckled. “You’ve got a point.”

 

***

 

“It’s encrypted.” Yamaguchi stated, pushing the small device with the tip of his finger. “What’s in it, really?”

“Well, we’ll just have to find a way to decode it then,” The brunette seated in front of him smiled deviously. “We appreciate your hard work though, bro. Thanks for not making a scene.”

“Luca—“Yamaguchi expected him to be more open, since they’ve been working together for these past few months, but like always, with every works he did, it only serve to puzzle him even more.  “Alright then. Let me know if you need something.”

“Will do.” The guy—Luca—replied with a grin. Yamaguchi spared him no glare as he exited the cold, dark room. He went and got something to drink at the bar upstairs, and when he got out, he wasn’t really expecting to see Tsukishima leaning against a wall just outside of the pub. He blinked out the fuzziness building inside his head. Tsukishima peeked at Yamaguchi skeptically.

“So, this is the hideout of the famous DedSec?” Tsukishima grinned conceitedly. When Yamaguchi pointedly gave him a questioning look, he sighed. “You still have yet to thank me,”

 

***

 

“Technically, you still owe me.” Yamaguchi uttered, hands clenching on the steering wheel.

It started to rain not long after Yamaguchi got out the pub, and the two of them hurriedly went inside Yamaguchi’s car. It was cold and humid inside, and Tsukishima wasn’t actually comfortable with the dampness of his hoodie.

“I’ll pay you back eventually.” Tsukishima assured his companion.

Yamaguchi huffed and rested his head against the steer.

“Look, I won’t lie—“

“I know you’re not lying. I mean, I have all your personal information and everything…”

“Hey.” Tsukishima scowled. “But aren’t you too old, for uh, college and stuff?”

Yamaguchi peered at him, expression unreadable. “I like to learn stuff. In this era information is _everything_ , don’t you think?”

“That’s why you charged head-on into restricted territories?” Tsukishima stated, straight-faced. “It’s not really worth your life though, is it?”

Yamaguchi only smiled weakly at that, and Tsukishima hated how pathetic it looked on him. ”Isn’t there a piece of information in this world you want so badly, you’d trade your whole lifetime for it?”

Tsukishima frowned, his jaws tightened.

“Oh—uh! Sorry! My thoughts are wandering here and there…” Yamaguchi trailed off, face reddened faintly.

Tsukishima blinked owlishly. “I don’t mind.” He really didn’t. He wasn’t sure why.

Yamaguchi bit his lower lips in order to suppress a smile. “So um,” He started nervously. “Can I ask you something?”

Tsukishima didn’t like the sound of it, but he nodded anyway.

“You have quick access around the ctOS network and neat skills, but you said you’re not part of The Owls or a fixer.” Yamaguchi fiddled with the hem of his sweatshirt. “Then what are you trying to do?” He inquired, his clear eyes searching. Tsukishima kind of expected the question to turn out like this, since Yamaguchi was _still_ the member of DedSec.

“You peeked inside my system didn’t you,” he asked back.

“Sorry…” Yamaguchi’s apology was quiet and earnest. The silence that lingered around them after was a bit unsettling; Tsukishima wished he could just get out of the car but the rain suddenly poured heavier.

“Since you’ve already invaded my privacy…” Tsukishima turned his head to face the freckled guy. “I might as well tell you.”

 

“My brother ran away from home two years ago, and now he’s here, in Chicago.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **important notes ******  
> > IDS: intrusion detection system 
> 
>  
> 
> I'm not too proud of this chapter, I'm really sorry if I made any mistake.


	4. Birds Of Prey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the moon surfaced, the owls came out to hunt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't know college was this hectic is2g.
> 
> Anyway guys! thank you for staying here with me ;_; and thank you for you guys who bookmarked my work! omg. I'm not planning on dropping this story anytime soon so if you willing, please look forward for more! thank you so much<33

Tsukishima thought it’d be waste to just let Yamaguchi—the guy who escaped a heavily-armed twenty stories building unharmed—go, so why not just use him?

After all, Yamaguchi’s connection with the most famous hacking collective that operates in Chicago—DedSec—would also prove to be useful for his purpose. And the poor guy desperately wants his eight thousand dollars back, so it was a win-win situation, wasn’t it?

“My brother ran away from home two years ago, and now he’s here in Chicago.”

Yamaguchi shot him a puzzled look.

“I thought he was dead.” He added.

Yamaguchi’s eyes grew wider and he averted his gaze. “Oh… Sorry.” He bit his lips anxiously. “Have you found him, then?”

“Not really. I picked up a few traces but that’s it.” Tsukishima pointedly look away.

“Um… how did you know it was him?” The brunet fiddled with his hair. “I mean, there are lots of people here in Chicago and…”

“I know, okay?” Tsukishima raised his voice and turned to look at Yamaguchi. He gritted his teeth. “A freelance hacker I knew online sent me CCTV footage. I know it was him the moment I saw it.” He was positive, even. The same messy blond hair, the lanky figure, the way he hunched his shoulders when he was standing. It was Akiteru, _his_ Akiteru. And on top of that, he was wearing the same hoodie Tsukishima gave him at his twenty-ninth birthday, right before he disappeared.

“Ah, I see. Sorry.” Yamaguchi looked genuinely sorry, hence Tsukishima felt a tad bit guilty for snapping at him. He shook his head. _I haven’t found him, yet. That’s why I need Yamaguchi to back me up._

“It’s… fine. That kind of reaction was called for.” Tsukishima regarded coolly. “It’s almost look like I’m searching for a ghost,”

“Have you tried probing through the FBI’s states records yet? I think it’ll be easier to start from there, especially if your brother was registered as Japanese.”

“I have, actually. It wasn’t easy, going through national assets like that. I could go to jail.” Tsukishima shrugged. “Though what we just did wasn’t really legal either,”

Yamaguchi smiled at him. “Then? Did you find anything?”

“No, nothing.” Tsukishima leaned back into the seat with a tired huff. “Though, when I dug through the archive, something smelled a little bit fishy.”

“Wow, you could really ended up in jail.” Yamaguchi snickered. “What did you find?”

“A group of Japanese. They’re registered, but their data were all deleted. I can’t find their records nor any surveillance footage with them in it.” Tsukishima looked straight into Yamaguchi’s eyes, lips curved into a smirk.

“Are you implying you’ve found the members of Owls?” Yamaguchi raised an eyebrow.

“I didn’t say anything about them being The Owls.” Tsukishima only shrugged.

Yamaguchi looked uncertain for a while. “Okay… go on.”

“Here’s the thing, the dates on their permits were a little odd. They arrived here in the states two years ago, exactly when my brother disappeared.” Tsukishima rested his head against his knuckle. “And then six months after that, a group of black hat hackers calling themselves The Owls appeared,”

Yamaguchi was slightly taken aback. “Amazing deductive reasoning skill. So you think they’re related to your brother?”

Tsukishima narrowed his eyes. _What else am I supposed to do, it’s my only lead._ “No. Akiteru would _never_ do such thing.”

The brunet fidgeted on his seat. For a while there was no sound except for the pouring rain outside the car. “Um… Then why are you telling me this?”

“DedSec need the names, don’t they?” Tsukishima prompted.

“And you want to find your brother,” Yamaguchi came into conclusion. He frowned. “Wait—you can’t just—“

The blond beamed, even though his eyes weren’t the slightest bit smiling.

“And what about my eight thousand dollars?!”

 

 

***

 

 

                                                                                --Tyranitar joined the chatroom.--

>l8rl0ser             : look who finally showed up  
>Tyranitar           : im done with WKZ news website  
>Tyranitar           : ill be sleeping now.

                                                                                      --Tyranitar logged out.--

>l8rl0ser             : thx for the hardwork!!1  
>n1ghtw1ng       : ohh!!!!  
>n1ghtw1ng       : brb checking it out now  
>l8rl0ser             : nice  
>141900             : and he went straight to sleep right after that.  
>n1ghtw1ng       : SIKE lets see dedsec do tHAT!  
>141900             : you should stop comparing us to dedsec.  
>l8rl0ser             : yeah man were def BETTER!  
>l8rl0ser             : ok ttyl guys  
>141900             : take heed.  
>l8rl0ser             : alrite’ mum see ya!  
>n1ghtw1ng       : lmao

                                                                                       --l8rl0ser logged out.--

 

A tall, middle-aged guy in a bright, confined room turned his computer off. He ruffled his messy hair and yawned gracelessly. The sight of the room was _chaotic_ ; laundry thrown all over the floor and garbage piling up at every corner. He could’ve sworn he stepped on something wet and sticky, but he was too tired to do anything about it. The only organized spot in the room was the working desk; with papers stacked carefully and books placed tidily next to the computer.  He flopped sluggishly on top of his bed and grab onto one of his pillows. It smelled weird.

“I swear to god I’ll clean this place up tomorrow first thing in the morning.” He muttered to no one in particular, like he did every single night.

Actually, no, he didn’t feel like cleaning up. Maybe the day after, or next week, he thought. He leaned into the mattress more, pressing his pillow against his head. It felt cold against his cheeks, and he let that feeling lull him to sleep.

 

He was woken up by the loud noise coming from his phone. Startled, he fell down face-first to the floor ungracefully. The brightness of the room stung his eyes, and his head was pounding horribly. His phone continued to rang, and god knows where it was at. He closed his eyes shut and cursed silently. There was a sound of door unlocking from the main entrance, and that was when his phone quieted down. He heard light footsteps making its way to him, and with that the familiar hushed tone of someone he knew well.

“Kuroo?”

Kuroo looked up and grinned wryly at the small figure standing awkwardly across the room; Dyed blonde hair, hunched shoulders, and a pair of piercing golden eyes.  “Hi, Kenma.”

“I called your cell but you didn’t pick up…” Kenma dragged his eyes all over the room and his nose twitched with disgust. “Your place is as nasty as always.”

“Good morning to you _too_ ,” Kuroo snickered. He pushed himself up and dusted himself off. “I just woke up.”

Kenma eyed his friend’s ever-lasting bed hair. “I can see that.”

Kuroo gestured at Kenma to come closer, but the blond only shook his head, content with where he was currently standing at the moment.

“One of the owls messaged me, something about the shooting inside an office building.” Kenma fiddled with his phone.

"Is it on the news?" Kuroo asked, his voice still rough from sleep. He inched closer to Kenma who backed away slightly.

"Of course not." Kenma squinted at him. "Somehow Blume managed to hide it from public."

"Eeh, shocking." Kuroo grinned. He walked past Kenma towards the fridge to grab a can of beer. "People died and those nasty bastards are still thinking about themselves."

"Also, someone said something about network security breach."

"Oho?" Kuroo raised an eyebrow. "Really, now?"

Kenma nodded curtly, darting his eyes back to the screen of his phone.

"What about the other two? Did they say anything regarding this?" Kuroo asked calmly before taking a sip of the beer.

Kenma nodded, eyes never leave his phone. "Akaashi- _san_ requires your presence."

Kuroo sighed as he strode back to his messy side of the room. "Can't we just talk about it online? I have work this noon y'know."

"They're waiting at the usual place. I'll come with you." Kenma said, tucking a stray of blond hair behind his ear.

"Now you're expecting me to drive all the way to Mad Mile?!" Kuroo groaned. Kenma flashed him a small, amused smile.

"I'll be waiting outside then. This place smells like a dumpster," Kenma turned on his heels and walked to the door.

"Hey! Where's my good morning kiss?!" Kuroo yelled right when heard the sound of door closing. Kenma replied with a muffled grumble. "As if, gross."

 

***

 

Kenma told him once that his car smelled like citrus and fresh laundry. Kenma also said it smelled a little like home, _his_ home. Definitely not Kuroo's. He rarely cleans up his house, and by now it looked exactly like a rat's lair. Not that he’d deny the statement.

"Do you have enough rest last night?" Kuroo asked the second he got into the car.

"Just enough," Kenma answered shortly.

Kuroo turned to face him, his eyes filled with worry. "Sorry we kinda asked you to work overtime,"

“Stop treating me like a baby.” Kenma sulked and looked away. "Besides, it's better than just to sit around doing nothing."

"Well, you did great either way, just as I expected." Kuroo grinned happily, and Kenma’s expression softened a little. He averted his gaze shortly, pondering to himself before grabbing Kuroo's cheeks and pulled him closer as he sealed their lips in an awkward kiss.

Kenma pulled back with the same stoic face as usual, in contrast to Kuroo’s flustered expression. He blinked slowly. "Uh?"

Kenma tasted a little like cinnamon; must’ve been his breakfast, Kuroo mulled.

"Your good morning kiss," Kenma stated simply. He looked outside the window almost immediately, and Kuroo could see his ears reddened slightly. "Now, drive." He urged.

“Th-that’s it?” He heard Kuroo stuttering next to him. Kenma didn’t even spare him a single glance. “Fine,” He whined before inserting the key inside the ignition. When he attempted to start the car—it lurched forward instead—startling both him and Kenma; who let out a quiet squeak and gripped onto Kuroo’s red jumper.

“Oh… it’s in gear.” Kuroo mumbled softly once the car stalled, and grinned innocently when Kenma fixed him a sharp glare. “Relax… okay?”

Kenma wrinkled his brows in irritation. “Just, hurry up.”

“Okay okay.” Kuroo laughed airily.

“Why did I decide to date an airhead like you again?” Kenma murmured as he dug around his pocket for his PSP.

“Because I’m generous and hot?” Kuroo supplied. Kenma refused to respond to _that_ , so he brought all his attention to his game. The drive was quiet; except for the sound of Kenma’s PSP.

 

Kenma slept once he was bored repeating the same level over and over, so once they arrived at an old industrial warehouse down at Mad Mile, Kuroo had to wake him up. He really didn’t want to, seeing the dark bags underneath the blonde’s eyes.

“Kenma, how many hours did you sleep last night?” Kuroo asked softly.

Kenma hummed as he stirred awake. “Stop it Kuroo… you’re not my mom,” he mumbled messily, his eyelids still heavy with sleep.

“I knew it; you played Pokemon until dawn again didn’t you?” Kuroo brought his palm to his face and huffed exasperatedly.

Kenma didn’t answer; instead he unlocked the door and got out of the car silently. Kuroo exhaled loudly before getting out of the car himself. He followed Kenma inside, through a large and rusty garage door and a group of workers—who didn’t even bat an eyelash at them. Kenma ducked under a large steam pipe expertly and climbed unto a set of corroded stairs. It was dark and humid inside, with occasional sunlight creeping from holes formed on the roof and walls. Empty oil barrels were stacked at every corners of the place, and it reeked of kerosene. They walked on steel platform with a large shipping container serving as an office by the end of it. There was light from inside, and when Kuroo pushed the door open, two familiar faces welcomed him. He easily relaxed into a smile.

“Yo.” He greeted. He strolled inside coolly, stuffing his hands inside his pocket. The room was almost empty, except for the white round table in the middle and a worn out couch by the corner. On the table were two cans of empty coke bottles and a small laptop.

“Kuroo!” An owlish man with ridiculous streaked greyish hair chirruped happily. He skipped towards Kuroo and threw both of his hands in the air. Kuroo grinned widely as he high-fived the sunny guy. “Kuroo I missed you so much dude!”

Kuroo wiped his non-existent tears. “Bro, even though we just chatted last night…”

Kenma’s face contorted into something akin to repulsion. He dodged the two _idiots_ as he made his way to the other guy, who only stood calmly with his arms folded. He had an unruly black hair and eyes just as dark. His skin was pale and fair, and his nose was colored rosy pink due to the cold. A red scarf was wrapped neatly around his neck, covering the low half of his flawless face. He was easily the prettiest guy Kuroo had ever seen, not that he’d admit it out loud. He smiled slightly at the sight of Kenma, and the smaller guy easily bowed his head at the gesture.

“I thought you wouldn’t show up.” The guy spoke up. Kuroo whipped his head at him and leered.

“Well, let’s just say I got a tiny bit curious.”

“Probably because Kenma asked him to.” The guy next to him snickered.

“Not true. I don’t do stuff just because Kenma _asked_ me to.” He shook his head and folded his arms. “ _You_ on the other hand,” He pointed at the loud guy and glanced at the pretty guy. “You always follow Akaashi down like a baby duck.”

“N-No I don’t!” The said guy stammered noisily, a faint blush creeping into his neck and cheeks.

Kuroo eyed him skeptically. “Gross,”

“Baby duck? Really, Kuroo,” Kenma butted in, straight-faced. “Do adults really have this kind of conversation?”

The dark haired guy—Akaashi—chuckled softly. “Baby ducks are kinda cute,”

Kenma heaved a loud sigh. “Not you too, Akaashi- _san,”_

The grey-haired guy perked up happily. “Do you think I’m cute Akaashi?!” He hurdled to Akaashi’s side with growing anticipation.

“I didn’t say anything regarding _you,_ Bokuto- _san_.” Akaashi stated calmly. Bokuto’s spiky hair went limp at the statement, and he pursed his lips. Kuroo just straight out laughed at his friend’s reaction.

“Can’t we just go straight to the point…” Kenma said weakly.

Akaashi blinked and cleared his throat. “Oh, right. My apologies.” He intertwined his fingers together. “The reason why I asked you to come is because of the accident happening last night—right before we attacked the news website.”

“The mass murder inside of Blume’s branch office!” Bokuto hooted.

Akaashi looked a little lost for a moment. “It really wasn’t, Bokuto- _san_.” He corrected. “There were indeed a few causalities from Blume’s side, but it had nothing to do with us.”

“What concerns us was the IDS signal coming from their main server.” Kenma added quietly.

“Exactly. So whoever barged inside the building had their intention set on breaching through Blume’s network. The shooting was merely to cause distraction.” Akaashi continued. “Which is a little foolish, I think, knowing what kind of company Blume is,” He set his lips into a thin line, but his expression remained unchanged. “I tried to access the building’s security system, but ever since the accident, their firewall had been almost impenetrable.”

“But!” Bokuto interrupted, swaying his phone in front of Kuroo’s face. “Look what I’ve found at the opposite building’s rooftop!” He turned the screen on, showing a hazy footage of a surveillance camera. Kuroo took the phone to his hand and his eyes widen excitedly.

“Hee,” On the screen he saw what looked like a middle-aged individual at the edge of the roof with a sniper rifle placed steadily on the right and a small netbook by their left. The person was facing the Blume’s building, and it was almost impossible to see clearly because it was dark. At one point the man moved to his right and peeked inside the scope of the rifle, but that was when the recording end.

“It was too dark to see and they had their hoodie pulled up all the time, but damn they could handle their gun well,” Bokuto whistled. “The buildings are quiet far, you know.”

Kenma, who scooted closer to him to watch the footage as well, shuffled on his feet nervously. “Do you think it’s…”

“DedSec? Fat chance.” Akaashi voiced his thought. “For all I know, they don’t usually act this rash and… reckless.”

Kuroo eyed Akaashi before turning back to Kenma. Kenma had his hands sneaked inside his pockets, the gesture Kuroo knew too well. “But they did trigger the IDS… right?” He asked passively.

“Indeed.” Akaashi nodded. He looked over at Bokuto, and for a second a look of fondness flashed inside his eyes. “No matter what, Blume _is_ the company who built ctOS. Even though they alerted the system, they did crack firewall.”

“So,” Kuroo swayed back and forth on his heels, a warped grin plastered on his face. “Whoever did that was no ordinary citizen, am I right?” Something dangerous glinted inside his feline eyes.

“I’m afraid so. I’m unable to profile the person on the rooftop because they had their back to the camera all the time… not to mention whoever was inside the building.”

Kuroo hummed. “Should we be alarmed?”

Bokuto waved his hand dismissively and scoffed. “Pssh, they aren’t a threat.”

“Yet.” Akaashi added sternly. “You can’t let down your guard, Bokuto- _san_.”

The four of them stood in uncomfortable silence. Kuroo tipped his chin, eyeing the ceiling. A new threat _and_ DedSec? He really should stop underestimating the people of Chicago city.

“How about… Athena? Did she have anything to say about this?” He inquired, breaking the silence.

Akaashi pulled his eyebrows together. “No, there’s nothing from her. She’d contact me immediately if there’s something important going on.”

“So she thinks this isn’t important?” Kuroo tilted his head.

“Or is she trying to hide this from us?!” Bokuto yelled, surprising the rest of the group.

Kuroo turned to face Bokuto with an incredulous look in his face. “Aren’t you being a little ridiculous today?”

“Because!” Bokuto moved his hands wildly. “I want to have a say in this too! You guys are taking this way too seriously!”

Akaashi pressed his palm to his face and sighed, and Kenma watched him in empathy. “Nobody had ever managed to hack into Blume’s security protocol except for the Vigilante.” Kenma supplied.

“And us!” Bokuto whooped.

“And DedSec,” Akaashi reminded them, and Bokuto’s expression soured once more. Kuroo sniggered slightly before he yawned.

“So is this all? You called us for _this?_ ”

Akaashi glared at him. “Someone who’s able to hack into Blume’s system easily will be able to hack into _our_ system in no time.”

Kuroo grinned crookedly. “I doubt that,” After all, he was the one who designed the security protocol and the firewalls.

“See, Akaashi?!” Bokuto hopped in front of Akaashi. “I told you there’s nothing to worry about!” He beamed, his teeth showing. “Even Athena and The Other Guy kept quiet about it—meaning it ain’t as big as you thought!”

Akaashi—out of words—only stared down at his partner silently. The mention of _The Other Guy_ had silenced all of them. Kenma looked up at Kuroo with searching eyes, and Kuroo responded with a weak, apologetic smile.

“Speaking of which, haven’t heard anything from them lately.” Kuroo glanced at Bokuto. “You’ve been the one leading the attacks, right Bokuto?”

Bokuto nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! But hey hey, I’m pretty capable too, ain’t I?” He directed the question at Akaashi, who only spared him a glance, before turning to Kuroo.

“The same goes for all of us. They’d only surfaced when there’s something they needed to tell us.”

Kuroo bent his arms behind his head. “Huh, sneaky bastards.”

Akaashi casted his eyes downward, tracing the surface of the table with his fingers. “I’m pretty sure they have their own reason to want to stay unnamed, Kuroo. They’re the core members too, after all.”

 

***

 

>Dave_Of_Spades          : _There was an attack on the WKZ website last night._ _Whoever did that leaked a lot of_

 _information regarding the staffs’ profile, email addresses and_ _passwords._

>Dave_Of_Spades          : _Be on your guard._

>JadeXXO                      : Could it be the owls???

>Aviary                          : who else would gamble with innocent citizens like this?

>saucekay                      : Aviarys right.

>UnTrAcEaBLe                : cant find an opening. Unable to trace em back.

>JadeXXO                       : I’ll try this time, using ICMP. Hopefully theyre active at this time of day.

>JadeXXO                       : @%^&@* they shut down the website>_<

 

Yamaguchi stared at the display in front of him quietly, his fingers ghosting above the keyboard, but there wasn’t anything he wanted to say in particular. His eyes flickered over to the small device next to his computer. He hesitated for a while before he finally grabbed his phone in hand. He looked over the device, his eyes fluttering. He watched the computer display once more before chewing on his lower lip and made up his mind.

He hugged his knees as he pressed dial.

He waited, his toes curling and uncurling in anticipation. There was a tapping sound when the other picked up.

 

“Tsukishima…? It’s me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Baby ducks are called ducklings, you nerds._
> 
>  
> 
>  **important notes**  
>  ICMP: The Internet Control Message Protocol
> 
> yay, more characters! and revealed relationships! but don't worry, this is most definitely a tsukkiyama fic.  
> can you guess their codenames though 
> 
> OH and happy halloween!!!


	5. beta

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsukishima just couldn't leave Yamaguchi alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is very short i'm sorry! i can't update regularly due to my schedule, that's why i want to thank all of you who still read this thing!! thank u som uch!

_An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind._

* * *

 

The night was quiet; if not for the sounds of raindrops hitting the ground, drumming softly on the concrete. A man stood with his back pressed to the wall; shielding himself from the drops of water, the hem of his coat wet because of rain. The teashop behind him was warm and bustling with customers, oblivious to the biting cold outside.

Next to him, two middle-aged men were crouching down behind a rubbish bin, smoking and talking to each other, seemingly ignorant of his presence.

“Tsukishima…?” A voice called out to him softly and he lifted his head, turning his face to the source of the sound. A young man his age was standing across from where he was standing, his clothing was completely soaked. Tsukishima knitted his eyebrows together and let out an exhausted huff.

“You’re…”

Yamaguchi inched closer to him, tilting his head in question. “Yes?”

Tsukishima pursed his lips and look away.  “No, nevermind.” He stuffed his hand inside his coat pocket and fished out a small USB device. “Here’s what I dug through a few months ago.” He gave out the device to Yamaguchi—who accepted it excitedly.

“Oh,” Yamaguchi looked down at the USB and then at Tsukishima, his face lightened almost immediately. “Thank you,” He murmured.

The two of them just stood quietly, the sounds of rain filling the silence between them. Tsukishima watched Yamaguchi from behind the frame of his glasses and wondered when he'd last had a proper exchange with anyone face to face. It wasn’t that hard, actually, to strive up a conversation and greet someone, like one his neighbors, for instance. But Tsukishima was never a people person to begin with, even in his own country. And yet, he blabbered some unnecessary details to a guy he just met. _Well,_ with how things turned out, he would need Yamaguchi to fully trust him, and he admitted Yamaguchi wasn’t that bad of a person. He was a pretty good listener and he was careful with his words too.

As a fellow Japanese, Yamaguchi had an air of familiarity around him, and it was enough to lift the tension building up inside Tsukishima for these past few months.

The only thing left to do was to not let Yamaguchi know that he had already collected enough money to pay back what he stole. He realized he was being a complete jerk, but if they were going to work with each other, Tsukishima would need a warranty.

When the rain finally let up, the two men next to them stood up and Tsukishima watched them as they left the alley, murmuring soft conversations he didn’t bother hearing. Pressed flushed against his shoulder was a shaking Yamaguchi, hugging himself with his arms. Tsukishima was too lost in thought to notice how close they were, and that Yamaguchi almost freezes to death.

Tsukishima looked down, frowning. “Did you walk all the way here?”

“Ah,” Yamaguchi raised his face and grinned sheepishly, his nose and cheeks were glowing red. “Yeah, I h-had to stop somewhere—Oh! I almost forgot,” He rummaged through the pocket inside of his winter coat and took out a clear plastic bag with a small book and documents in it. He shoved it at Tsukishima and the blonde accepted it hastily.

“What’s this…?” He asked, confounded.

Yamaguchi rubbed his nose with the back of his hand before answering quietly, “That’s your fake ID and some permits.”

Tsukishima’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief. His eyes flickered between the documents on his hand and at Yamaguchi.

“Since, you know, if we can’t find your brother online, we might have to go down to the street, and it’ll be harder for the both of us if you’re still living here illegally so,” The brunette shrugged. “But, uh, technically you’re _still_ living here illegally. Don’t depend too much on that.”

Tsukishima was too stunned to respond. He hadn’t really expecting any of this, especially not from someone who he accidentally mugged.

_What is wrong with this Yamaguchi guy?_

He was too trusting and too kind and his guiltless grin did _things_ to Tsukishima’s stomach. Was he always like this to _everyone_ he knows? Somehow, Tsukishima didn’t want to think about that. For the time being, accepting this kind of generosity was new to him and it weirded him out a little. Nevertheless, there was a strange warm sensation building up inside his chest, and his mood eased up a bit.

_I should thank him, right…?_

“Oh, and, please don’t ever bring them to the airport. You’ll end up in jail—” Yamaguchi added, followed by a high-pitched sneeze that startled the two of them. They shared a look, and Yamaguchi’s face reddened under Tsukishima’s gaze. He clasped his hand around his mouth and muttered something nervously, but was cut off by Tsukishima.

“Do you want to go inside?”

 

***

 

The teashop was swarming with people, even though it was moderately late at night. The moment they entered the shop, all eyes were on them—or Yamaguchi, in particular. He was drenched pretty badly; his hair was damped to his temple and neck with little beads of water dripping from the tips. It was awful, watching him sat down in that kind of state.

“This is so uncomfortable,” Yamaguchi whined after they settled at a seat by the corner of the store, away from the commotion.

Tsukishima scoffed. “I can see that.”

Yamaguchi sagged against the table and exhaled. “At least it’s warm in here,” He droned. A waitress came by their table not long after, placing their orders before leaving. Yamaguchi immediately wrapped his hands around his steaming hot cup of tea.

Tsukishima watched with small amusement. Yamaguchi looked like a small animal in his eyes; somehow he wanted to protect him. Strange. He took a sip of his coffee as Yamaguchi continued to stare down at his tea motionless.

“U-um,” He started nervously, his eyes wandering here and there. Tsukishima rested his head against his palm, waiting. “First of all, Tsukki, there’s something we need to talk about,” Yamaguchi looked up, furrowing his brows.

“ _What_?” Tsukishima snapped.

“It’s um, an agreement we—“

“Not that,” Tsukishima bit off sharply and sighed when Yamaguchi tensed up almost immediately. “The hell is ‘Tsukki’?”

“Eh?” Yamaguchi blinked, the muscle on his face relaxed slightly. “It’s your nickname?” He said lightly.

“You can’t just give people nicknames,” The blonde grunted, folding his arms. “ _God_ , you’re weird.”

“B-but Tsukishima is too long!” Yamaguchi protested. “And… how is it weird?!”

It wasn’t that weird, honestly. Tsukishima was just a little taken aback with the sudden familiarity between the two of them. “It’s a common name in Japan, Yamaguchi. See, your name is pretty long too,” He countered, a little too childish than he liked it to be.

“But I don’t address myself that much. I got tongue-twisted too sometimes you know,” The brunette explained lightheartedly.

“Uh, you don’t like it?” He spoke up when Tsukishima said nothing in respond. “’m sorry, I guess…”

“I never said anything like that, it’s just…” Tsukishima trailed off and huffed. “Whatever, what did you want to talk about again?”

There was a small smile forming on Yamaguchi’s lips when his expression brightened once again. Somehow the sight of it gave Tsukishima an odd satisfied feeling. “It’s about, us—u-us working together.” Yamaguchi lifted his cup and sipped on his tea. “If you… want to do this, please promise me one thing.” He continued, his voice softened.

Tsukishima sat up straight and stared quietly.

“Please don’t assassinate anyone unless it’s really, _really_ necessary.” Yamaguchi muttered, his voice was just above a whisper. His eyes were casted downward and Tsukishima couldn’t really see through him with his bangs in the way. “The last time was a little risky so I kind of understand but, for the near future I hope you could, at least, cope with this.”

Tsukishima tilted his head, his face blank. “What, DedSec doesn’t like making commotion?”

Yamaguchi lifted his head, glowering. “I’m acting independently on this.”  He fisted his cup tightly; the tips of his fingers went white. “It has nothing to do with DedSec,” He supplied. Tsukishima stayed silent most of the time, the only sound coming from him was his finger tapping on the wood table.

“You’re not scared if you’re found out?”

Yamaguchi bit his lips and stared at his tea intensely. “It’s my own choice, I’ll deal with that myself.” When he finally looked up again, there was a glint of confidence on his eyes that drew Tsukishima’s attention away. He liked that. “In the meantime, that’s my only term. Can you do that?”

“…Alright.” Tsukishima settled, leaning back against the cushion. He tried to keep his expression as neutral as possible, fighting the urge to smile. “I’ll try.”

Yamaguchi beamed at him in awe. “Thanks, Tsukki!”

Tsukishima had to look away, because somehow his smile was contagious, and Tsukishima’s cover almost faltered. Though he admitted he found himself in a better mood than he had been since he first arrived at the city.

 

***

 

Because Yamaguchi had been sneezing nonstop and was shaking on his feet, the two of them bid farewell and parted ways in front of the shop. Yamaguchi took off to the direction where he came from, making his way to the L-train station while Tsukishima walked back to his motel. The road was wet and slippery, as a result from the heavy rain earlier, but it wasn’t empty in the least. Chicago was very different from the city where he lived with his mother before, and it still took him a while to familiarize himself with the way his current city work. Tsukishima didn’t particularly like busy places. He was in a middle of crossing a street when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

The caller ID said _king$imba_.

 _This better be important._ He picked up his phone and opened his mouth, but before he got any chance to say anything, the man from the other side of the line blabbered immediately.

“ _How much are you willing to pay for this information,_ ” The guy said in one breath, voice impatient. Tsukishima exhaled, stopping next to the traffic light.

“Depends on what you’re selling.” Tsukishima replied. His ‘friend’ sounded like he was in a hurry, making Tsukishima grew restless. But then again, this ‘friend’ of his tends to exaggerate a lot of things. He eventually learned to deal with it.

“ _Okay, look, you’re going to owe me a lot for this since I’m not the kind of person who’d call my client at twelve in the morning but let’s skip that for now.”_  The man said, and Tsukishima could hear the faint sound of typing from across the line. “ _You know—the tall dude you’ve been searching for the past few months? Well the ctOS’ traffic cam picked up his trace not long ago—“_

“Where?” Tsukishima barked, unconsciously gripping his phone tighter.

“ _Firefly! Listen! Geez, you’re a real piece of work you know that?”_ He heard a sigh. “ _You ever been in that Chinese restaurant at The Loop? West Madison street?”_

Tsukishima willed himself to calm down. “No, never heard of it.”

“ _Well that place is kind of iffy, you know, most of the customers are Asian—at first I thought it’s because they’re selling Chinese foods? But then when I scanned through some of the regulars, half of them weren’t even registered in the states illegally, dude. The other half, well, they’re Chinese mobs. Even I don’t want to deal with that.”_ The guys talked too fast, his thick Russian accent slipped off occasionally.

“And my _brother_?” Tsukishima brushed off the nonsense edgily and went straight to the main issue.

“ _I think your brother just went inside, like, two minutes ago.”_ The man supplied. “ _In a middle of the night.”_ He deadpanned. “ _Something smells fishy.”_

Tsukishima turned around and walked back to the direction of the teashop. “Alright. Alright, got it.” His steps went faster with every fleeting second, and he wasn’t even aware he had run pass through the shop.

“ _Oh no, you’re going there aren’t you? Man, I’m doing this to warn you, not encouraging you.”_

“Well, you’re doing a horrible job at that. You know what, I’ll call you when I’m done,” Tsukishima panted, stepping on puddles of water on his way, making his sneakers clammy.

“ _Hey! Listen, there are mobs there and who knows that’s where The Owl members—“_

“So, you want to help me out on this?” Tsukishima asked coldly.

“ _Hell no.”_

“Then I’ll call you later.” Tsukishima hung up instantly, gripping his phone in his fist and sprinted to the direction of the L-train station.

_Please still be there please still be there_

Sure enough, when Tsukishima reached the intersection where the station is, he spotted Yamaguchi slowly making his way up the stairs. He jogged towards the guy, swiftly pulling him by the shoulder, turning him around. Alarmed, Yamaguchi slapped Tsukishima’s hand away hastily, causing him to topple backward to the set of stairs.

“Tsuki…shima?” Yamaguchi eyed him, surprised written all over his feature. “What are you…” Tsukishima hurriedly reached out to him, helping him stand on his feet. His hand was warm, and not in a good way, he decided.

“Uh, are you feeling okay?” Tsukishima asked, shuffling on his feet anxiously.

Yamaguchi blinked, cocking his head to the side. “Yes..? What’s wrong?” Though Yamaguchi looked everything but okay. His eyes were watery and his whole face was beet red. Tsukishima narrowed his eyes and nibbled on his lips.

“Can you run?” Tsukishima finally said, tearing his eyes away.

 

They took the train until they reached Washington/Wells station and continued on foot. Tsukishima had Yamaguchi’s hand in his all the time, pulling him into his pace. It got colder, Tsukishima noticed. He tightened his grip on Yamaguchi. The boy seemed to follow him quietly without throwing any question. He didn’t complain either, which was good, because Tsukishima couldn’t really deal with any guilt trip at the moment.

The restaurant was relatively small. The display windows were large and clear, and the inside of the shop was visible from the road. There were lines of empty chairs and a huge display of wedding cake. The sign on the door said closed and the lights were off with no trace of life. Had his Intel conned him?

“Um,” Yamaguchi finally spoke after taking a huge breath. “What’s this about, really?” He looked pale and out of breath.

Tsukishima paced to the front door and placed his hand on the door handle. He tried to pry it open. It wasn’t locked.

“Oh,” Yamaguchi wheezed. “Are we… breaking in?”

Tsukishima didn’t answer; he only spared Yamaguchi a look before hesitantly entering the dark shop. Yamaguchi followed silently, their footsteps echoing inside the small room. Tsukishima scanned the area, slowly making his way around the place.

There, at the back of the room, he noticed, was a tightly shut door. From the small gap under it, Tsukishima could see a hint of light leaking out from behind the door.

“Yeah, I guess we’re breaking in.”

He gestured Yamaguchi to inch closer to him and the boy obliged silently, but he walked right into Tsukishima’s personal space and sagged against the blonde. Dumbfounded, Tsukishima turned around facing the boy. Yamaguchi was pressed weakly against him, burying his face on Tsukishima’s chest.

“O-oi, Yamaguchi.” Tsukishima leaned against a wall and grabbed onto Yamaguchi’s shoulders, pushing the boy away. He could feel his face heat up rapidly.

“Tsukki…” Yamaguchi started faintly, his voice parched. “I think I’m gonna faint.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	6. Cost Per Click

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know my updates take forever so here's a Christmas gift for ya'll! an early update. just don't expect much.  
> big thanks to my cat, lil' Akaashi who stepped on the keyboard and gave me writing ideas.

The door swung open, banging against the interior wall with a loud, crashing noise.

A woman walked out with a baseball bat in hand.

“Alrite’ who’s there?!” She roared, one hand on her hips. She entered the dark room, scanning her surrounding warily. She walked through between the empty chairs and dining table, occasionally pushing them away with her foot, creating a mess. When she reached the main entrance, she let out an exasperated groan.

From inside of the room she was in, she heard a light chuckle. “They’re long gone, Saeko.”

The woman grunted and raked her hand through her blonde hair. “Seriously, you should’ve locked the friggin’ door.”

“Yeah, my fault, I’m sorry.” A male voice answered half-heartedly.

Saeko pulled her key out and locked the glass door quietly. She stared outside of the window, to the blackness that surrounded the city. “Hey, who do you think those kids are?”

“Probably just thugs, you know… there are more of them lately.”

Walking back to the well-lit room, Saeko snorted. “Yeah right, we all know they ain’t no ordinary thugs.” She paused right in front of the door, narrowing her eyes at the wet footsteps on the floor. “Sometimes your positive viewpoint nags me,”

And then the door was closed shut, covering the small shop with darkness once again.

 

***

 

“No, I got out there safely,” Tsukishima paced around his room, his phone pressed flat to his ear. “Mm. Thank you. Please continue to keep an eye on the restaurant.”

He cut the line off and put his phone down on his work desk. He walked over to the small window next to the door and peeked from behind the curtain. It was dawn, and the sunlight hurt his eyes. He closed the curtain and looked over his shoulder to the figure lying lifeless on his bed. He closed his eyes and rubbed his palms all over his face with a desperate sigh.

Yamaguchi didn’t faint, but he looked like he was about to, so Tsukishima had no other choice but to drag him out of the restaurant and bring him to his motel because he had no clue where Yamaguchi lives. Fortunately for him, Yamaguchi lost consciousness right at his doorstep, not in a middle of the street.

But still, he had lost his chance to finally see his brother again—to finally encounter Akiteru.

Yamaguchi groaned and shifted in his sleep, his face scrunched up in pain. Tsukishima approached him, thoroughly confused. He had no idea how to nurse someone back into health. He had never taken care of anything before, not to mention a real life human.

 _Well_ , he thought. _At least I know where to go once everything settles down._

He brushed Yamaguchi bangs away from his face, feeling the heat radiating on his palm.

_And I will need him too._

Yamaguchi’s face relaxed at the touch, and the boy unconsciously leaning more into Tsukishima’s hand. He was sweating a lot, even though it was cold outside. The shirt that Tsukishima lent him was drenched in sweat. At this point, Tsukishima felt like a doting mom.

The realization fell on him and he retracted his hand promptly; his face growing hot and his pulse quickened.

“What the hell…” He grunted.

A phone rang, breaking off the awkward silence. The ringtone was foreign to Tsukishima’s ear, and it came from the pocket inside of Yamaguchi’s soaked coat. The blonde glanced at the coat, contemplating. He tentatively took a step forward.

There was no number, only an ID named _Jadexxo._

He picked it up and waited for the person across the line.

“ _Yamaguchi?”_ The voice definitely belonged to a girl. Tsukishima stayed quiet, his eyes darted to the sleeping boy next to him. “ _Hello?”_ The girl called out.

Tsukishima knew better than to intervene with Yamaguchi’s privacy, but he had to admit, he was pretty much curious about the man than he intended to. “Yeah?” He replied in a whisper.

The other line went quiet, and that was when Tsukishima knew he fucked up.

“ _Who’s this?”_ Her voice was cold and sharp, and Tsukishima went wary and tense. He hung up immediately.

No more call came that day.

 

Yamaguchi roused awake in the middle of the day. He hummed softly, wiping the sweat away from his face with the back of his hand. Tsukishima closed his laptop and loomed at the boy.

“You’re okay now?” He queried, placing a bottle of water next to the pillow.

Yamaguchi blinked his eyes rapidly as if trying to register everything going on in his head. He gasped loudly and sat up straight once he came to, his eyes wide. “Oh no,”

Tsukishima was expecting that kind of reaction. At least, Yamaguchi wasn’t such a jerk, unlike him. “How’s your head?”

Yamaguchi shook his head. “I’m… I’m sorry, Tsukki… I—I ruined everything didn’t I?”

 _It’s not entirely your fault, though._ Tsukishima tore his eyes away. “We can go back there anytime we want, once you’re back in shape.”

Yamaguchi bowed his head dejectedly, eyes fixed at the hands on his lap. “I’m really sorry. It was my fault.”

Tsukishima clicked his tongue in annoyance. Just how many times in a day can this guy apologize? “Look, at least we got some lead.” He sat down on the edge of the bed, lacing his fingers together. “Alright?” He didn’t even know why he was trying to calm Yamaguchi down.

“Right. 201 West Madison Street, 60606.” Yamaguchi muttered under one breath. “I remember their phone too it’s—“ Yamaguchi looked up, but was stopped short when he saw the expression on Tsukishima’s face. “Um.. What’s wrong…?”

“You—” Tsukishima gawked at his friend in disbelief, before turning back to his usual stoic look. “Good. That’s… good.” He murmured _. Really good_. Yamaguchi exhaled in relief. “Anyway, Yamaguchi how are you feeling?”

Yamaguchi flashed him a wry grin. “I’m fine, just, maybe my head’s pounding a little, but hey, it’s just a cold.” He shrugged, trying to keep a cheerful demeanor. Tsukishima wasn’t buying any of that.

“I only have cough syrup and few strips of Paracetamol, I hope that’s enough.” He muttered softly to himself and got up from the bed.

Yamaguchi fisted the blanket pooling on his lap and looked up at Tsukishima with growing concern. “Uh, seriously you don’t have to, I—I’m okay!” Tsukishima only spared him a glance before turning back to grab his medicine box from his bathroom.

“That’s what you said exactly before collapsing on me.” Yamaguchi heard him said. “I also ordered takeouts. Hope you don’t mind Chinese foods.”

 

***

 

_Kuroo, Tetsurou_   
_> Recently involved in a gang fight_   
_Age: Unknown_   
_Occupation: Construction Worker_   
_Income: $75,000_

Kenma _, Kozume_  
 _> Illegal Immigrant_  
 _Age: Unknown_  
 _Occupation: ERROR_  
 _Income: ERROR_

_Bokuto, Koutarou_   
_> Collects Action Figures_   
_Age: Unknown_   
_Occupation: Unemployed_   
_Income: ERROR_

Akaashi _, Keiji_  
 _> ERROR_  
 _Age: Unknown_  
 _Occupation: WKZ Journalist_  
 _Income: $52,800_

_Yaku, Morisuke_   
_> Volunteers at an animal shelter_   
_Age: 26_   
_Occupation: Kitchen Helper_   
_Income: $27,700_

_Futakuchi, Kenji_   
_> Under DedSec Surveillance._   
_Age: 22_   
_Occupation: Unemployed_   
_Income: $0_

Once he arrived at his hideout, he hurriedly plugged in the USB Tsukishima gave him the other day, and the names appeared on his screen almost instantly. The list went on, but the first four names caught his attention. Their profiles were completely shady, unlike the other beneath them. Yamaguchi accessed the extra file inside the USB, the one filled with blurry images and amateur photographs. There were few passport photos, but none of them belonged to any of the said four guys. The more he dug through, the more overwhelmed he got. Just where did Tsukishima obtained all these stuff?

The sound of door opening startled him, and he minimized all his tabs instinctively.

“Yamaguchi…?” Yamaguchi turned around on his chair just to be greeted by a familiar face. He heaved a sigh and slumped on his chair.

“You scared me, Richard.” He groaned at the dark-haired boy inching closer to him.

“You’re okay?” Richard asked, puzzled. “I—I mean Maya called and—“

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Yamaguchi shot him a look.

The guy in front of him paused, seemingly lost in thought. Yamaguchi tilted his head in question but received no response, so he turned his chair and maximized the tabs on his computer back. “Anyway, can you help me out? I need to find some people, but they hid their tracks very well,”

“What people? Why would you need to find anyone? Are you really okay?” Richard leaned in next to him and started to bomber his with questions. “Are you… under a pressure or something?”

“Huh?” Yamaguchi squinted at his friend. “You’re acting weird, man.”

“You look so restless,”

“I have a cold.”

“Oh. I see.” His friend backed away and folded his arms. He murmured a quiet, “Okay.”

Yamaguchi whined and pressed his forehead to the surface of the desk. “So you’re gonna help me or are you gonna continue acting all creepy.”

Richard hummed, slanting against the desk. “Since you’re good with numbers, you could track their credit cards,” He provided. “Or find their phone number from their cell providers,”

Yamaguchi considered on taking the credit card data. “It won’t be easy, though.”

“Who said it will?” Richard patted his shoulder. “But hey, once you got their names, _nobody_ is safe, right?” _Right. Nobody_. Yamaguchi repeated. Even he, his friends, the core members of DedSec, no one in this city had any privilege to feel safe.

Yamaguchi droned and Richard picked up his things before exiting the room, leaving Yamaguchi by himself. After the door closed behind him, he sighed heavily, hanging his head. He felt awful ever since he woke up in Tsukishima’s motel, and his head still hurt like a bitch. It didn’t help with the guilty feeling weighing in his chest for ruining Tsukishima’s night.

He wanted to sleep for years and finally wake up when all the shenanigans ended.

He lifted his face and peered at the LCD display in front of him wearily. If there’s anything Yamaguchi was good at, it was tracking down people. But stuff like _searching_ and digging through Internet worth of data for a tiny bit information? If he was given any choice, he’d undoubtedly decline. Tsukishima was probably skilled with that kind of thing, but Yamaguchi had already given him a rough night, and he really didn’t want to annoy the blonde any more than he already did.

Especially when Tsukishima was being really nice to him.

The thought of it made Yamaguchi sighed contently. Well, Tsukishima was good-looking and smart; it wasn’t entirely his fault for harboring any weird emotion towards the guy.

Yamaguchi decided he’d start with this guy named Kuroo Tetsurou, since he looked extremely suspicious. Yamaguchi hated suspiciousness.

 

Of all the four names, there was this particular guy who wasn’t that careful at covering his traces. After three hours of fruitless probing, Yamaguchi finally settled on Kenma Kozume’s card information. It wasn’t that easy, but who knew the kid actually made huge purchases on Steam and PlayStation Store? Yamaguchi clearly wasn’t expecting that.

But it was a year ago, and it took him several minutes to install a back door and cracked inside the network to finally gain full access on the account. This Kenma guy left a heap of trash that he didn’t clean up thoroughly, making it easier for Yamaguchi to attain his personal information. Yamaguchi always hated doing dumpster diving, but at least this one wasn’t truly ineffective.

Yamaguchi was genuinely proud of himself for that.

After waiting a full minute for the network to completely load, he was shown the list of Kenma Kozume’s most recent purchases, and how delighted he was when he found out most of them were in Chicago. The most conspicuous one was his frequent transactions at a local café.

“Oh my god,” He gasped.  He scrolled down animatedly, grinning like a little kid. He reached out for his phone, dialing his friend straight away.

Tsukishima picked up after four rings. “Tsukki! Guess what!”

“ _Why won’t anybody in this godforsaken town just lemme sleep properly?”_ Tsukishima grunted, his voice raspy and heavy with sleep. Yamaguchi could feel himself blush.

“S—sorry Tsukki! I… I didn’t know…”

“ _Oh. You. You feeling okay now_?” The blond asked him quietly.

“Yeah, just. Fine. Anyway—listen to this! About the data you gave me, well, I hit a jackpot, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi said excitedly, rocking his feet back and forth.

“ _That fast?”_ He could hear the surprise in Tsukishima’s voice, and it only served to raise his mood more. He giggled sheepishly.

“Do you know this café down at North Michigan Avenue? I think this Kenma Kozume person always comes by every Tuesday buying the same stuff over and over again.” He continued, bringing his attention back to the computer. “He always buys two slices of Apple Pie and one cinnamon roll. That’s adorable.”

“ _Slow down—ugh, everyone should stop sprouting random addresses at me I don’t know shit about this city_.” Tsukishima complained. “ _Isn’t Kenma the one with the least information on his profiler?”_

Yamaguchi grinned. “Sorry, Tsukki.” He positioned his phone between his ear and his shoulder as he continued to type down on his computer. “Yes, but he piled up a lot of garbage too. It wasn’t that hard once I got the hang of it. He might be a Script Kiddie for all I care.”

Tsukishima only hummed in response.

“So… um, I was wondering if you’d want to tag along next Tuesday?” Yamaguchi nervously added. “Th-That is if you want to… I mean, I’m not forcing you or anything.”

“ _Hm, I wonder.”_ There was a rustling noise from Tsukishima’s line. “ _I guess, rather than charging head-on to a suspicious hideout it’ll be better to ask one of the members on person.”_

“Oh, yeah! He might know something about your brother!” Yamaguchi responded enthusiastically. “So you’re in?”

“ _Alright. Next Tuesday, right?”_

“Yep. He usually came by around eight to nine AM,” Yamaguchi closed the tab on his computer and unplugged his USB. “So, see you there?”

“ _Yeah.”_ Neither of them said anything for a while, and when Yamaguchi was about to cut the line off, Tsukishima spoke up, “ _Take care of yourself, idiot.”_ The blonde hung up after that.

Yamaguchi took his phone and stared down at the screen for a good five minutes with a small smile forming on his lips.

 

Yamaguchi exited the place not long after that. When he got up on his feet, his vision swum around and he wobbled slightly. He needed a good, long rest after all of this. He opened the door to the pub, right when a blond, petite girl he knew too well entered the pub. She was too busy checking her phone to notice him, but he greeted her anyway.

“Oh, hey, Maya.” Yamaguchi called out. She immediately looked up; all wide eyes and mouth hanging open slightly.

“Yamaguchi? You’re… okay?” She paced at his direction and grabbed his forearms tightly. “I mean, oh, thank goodness.”

“Uh… duh? Why wouldn’t I be?” Yamaguchi placed his hand above hers, peeling them away. “Everyone has been weird lately. What’s going on?”

“Because when I called you’re—“

“Y-you called? I was kinda out of it back then, maybe I was still asleep.”

“You weren’t at your home when I called, Yamaguchi.” Maya said sternly, glaring daggers at him. Yamaguchi scowled; somehow he had a bad feeling about this. “Yamaguchi, who is Tsukishima Kei?”

 

***

 

The rest of Tsukishima’s week was quiet and barren, like always. He visited the restaurant once, but didn’t bother to come in because it was crammed, and he didn’t really want to be inside a place like that on his own; he wasn’t sure why. He was always alone when he got here, the only support being _king$imba_ and his useful tips, but other than that, he tried surviving on his own. He did a great job, for three months at least.

Then Yamaguchi came.

He wasn’t sure if he wanted to stand on his own anymore. All Yamaguchi did was filled him up with clues and leads, and nothing more, but the little distractions—it swayed Tsukishima from his self-contained domain. Lately, he tried to convince himself that he wasn’t lonely, but he found himself looking at his phone every passing minute, waiting for a call he’d never get. The days went slower than it usually did. He wasn’t aware that the quietness was slowly eating him alive.

Yamaguchi never called him once, ever since that day, but then a week passed, and finally Tuesday rolled around.

Yamaguchi picked him up in front of his motel, smiling like always, but there was something amiss, Tsukishima noticed. They were quiet the entire trip.

Yamaguchi pulled over at the side of the road and unbuckled his seatbelt before quietly getting out of the car. Tsukishima trailed after him, and when he peered through the car door, a gust of wind hit his face. The air reeked of sea and smoke, something he hadn’t felt for a while. They were right by the river bank, at the part of the town Tsukishima never been before. It occurred to him just how _big_ the city was, and how foolish of him to try and face it alone with little preparation. A tinge of fear crawled on his skin.

“That’s the place,” Yamaguchi finally spoke since _forever_. Tsukishima could see his breath coming out from his mouth when he talked.

Tsukishima followed Yamaguchi’s eyes in silence. The two of them headed inside the shop, Yamaguchi ordering a simple Green Tea latte and they sat at the vacant seat right next to the entrance. Tsukishima hoped he hadn’t missed that Kenma Kozume guy, and from the look of it, Yamaguchi had wished for the same thing.

“So, um, have you checked the restaurant for the second time?” Yamaguchi queried.

“Once, but sniffing around won’t get me anywhere so, I decided to wait.” The blonde answered casually while wiping the steam from his glasses. “We’ll question the guy later, won’t we?”

“Of course.” Yamaguchi stirred his latte absent-mindedly, avoiding Tsukishima’s eyes. “I sure hope we don’t have to resort to violence, though.”

“You know what they say,” Tsukishima leaned against his palm and stared out of the window. “If brute force doesn’t solve your problems, then you aren’t using enough.”

Yamaguchi snorted and covered his mouth with his hand as he tried to stifle a laugh. “That was so wrong and so _bad_ Tsukki,”

Tsukishima felt a pang of relief in seeing Yamaguchi’s smile. “Oh, you actually reacted. And here I thought you were replaced by an Artificial intelligence or something.” He snickered.

Yamaguchi stilled, but soon relaxed into a smile. “I just… had a lot of things going on in my mind.” Tsukishima didn’t reply, and that was where their conversation ended, he supposed.

A lot of people come and goes and they waited for almost an hour until their _target_ showed up. He was a relatively small _boy_ bundled up in thick red scarf, fluffy sweater, and a white beanie with a folded hem and cat ears on top. It took Tsukishima a while to recognize him, because almost half of his face was covered. The only thing that made him noticeable was his striking dyed blond hair.

Tsukishima stood up when the said boy entered the shop. Yamaguchi looked up warily, but Tsukishima motioned him to stay. “Don’t move unless I said so.”

Yamaguchi nodded obediently, and Tsukishima took that as a cue to move. Kenma was waiting on a line behind the register, idly playing with his gaming console. Tsukishima stopped behind him, and there was an obvious gap between their heights. He tapped on the boy’s shoulder, and the said boy looked over his shoulder reluctantly with a grunt.

“You’re Kenma Kozume, right?” Tsukishima uttered quietly.

Kenma’s eyes widened warily and Tsukishima could see the boy stiffened up. He went pale as a sheet, making Tsukishima felt bad.

“Look I just want to—“

Kenma shoved through him and sprinted outside before Tsukishima was even done talking. Tsukishima turned on his heel and cursed, “Shit,” As he followed the kid outside. From the corner of his eyes he could see Yamaguchi recklessly stood up to catch up with them.

Kenma ran extremely fast for someone that small. Tsukishima forced his legs to move faster, but the cold and crisp air didn’t help at all. He was unable to even catch up with Kenma as his figure got smaller and smaller, before he disappeared at a corner. If he didn’t knew better that turn lead into a back alley, and he could probably trap the kid there—

“Tsukki!!”

A black sport car lurched forward right in front of him from the alley, fortunately he was pulled backward by the collar. It was only for a mere second but he saw Kenma inside the car, accompanied by an intimidating guy with sharp, cat-like eyes at the driver seat. Their eyes met, and Tsukishima almost forgot to breathe. He fell down on his back to the pavement as the car made a sharp turn with a screeching sound before disappearing into the main road.

“Tsukki—holy shit that was dangerous!” Yamaguchi rasped from where he was crouching next to him, gasping for air. “I thought you were a goner!”

Tsukishima pushed himself up with his hands and attempted to steady his jagged breathing. “Yeah,”

“He’s… huff, gone, huh?” Yamaguchi panted.

Tsukishima turned at Yamaguchi and reached out for his arm. “You—did they see you?”

“N—No, I think. I was behind you all the time so…” He looked away, rubbing his nape. “B-but, I think I remember their license plate number…”

Tsukishima pulled his hand back and sighed as he readjusted his glasses. “That’s… nice. Alright.” Yamaguchi stood up and offered him a hand, which Tsukishima took without a second thought. He dusted his jeans off and wiped his palms on his coat. “But then, now those stupid Owls know my face. It won’t be long until they set up a bounty on my head.”

Yamaguchi threw him a worried look, his eyebrows pulled together. Tsukishima didn’t like that look at all, it looked like it spelled trouble. “Um, Tsukki… about that…” He fidgeted, scuffing his foot on the ground. “Actually… you’re also on DedSec wanted list.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next we'll have more kuroken! and maybe bokuaka??? and a kiss?? who knows.
> 
>  **important notes**  
>  Script Kiddie – An individual who does not possess, or just doesn’t use, their own skills and know-how to hack or crack a computer system or network, but uses a pre-written program or piece of code, a script, to do the dirty work. In this case Kenma always uses Kuroo's script.
> 
> MERRY CHRISTMAS!


End file.
